Download Changes to Earth`s Surface Vocabulary Builder

Changes to Earth’s Surface
1.
Vocabulary Builder
crust - earth’s thin outer skin
2. mantle – thick layer of earth under the crust, some is partially melted and some is solid
3. core - the center of the Earth, composed of a liquid outer core and a solid inner core
4. lithosphere – the crust and upper, solid part of the mantle
5. asthenosphere – the upper part of the mantle below the lithosphere; the rock is molten and taffy-
like
6. weathering - the process of being broken down into smaller pieces
7. erosion – the process of weathered material being removed and transported or carried away
8. deposition – the dropping or settling of eroded material
9. glacier – immense sheets of ice that cover earth’s surface
10. meteorite – rocks from space that hit earth’s surface
11. plate tectonics – the theory that the lithosphere is divided into plates that are always moving
12. mid-ocean ridge - chain of mountain that runs through the world’s oceans along a divergent plate
boundary
13. rift – a deep valley where plates move apart along the mid-ocean ridge
14. sea-floor spreading- the process along the mid-ocean ridge where plates separate and allow melted
rock to surface and form new crust
15. fault - a break in Earth’s crust where rocks can slide past each other
16. earthquake - the snap and slide of rocks as energy is released in Earth’s crust
17. focus - the point inside Earth where and earthquake begins
18. epicenter - the point on Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
19. seismograph - an instrument that detects earthquake waves
20. magnitude - the amount of energy released during an earthquake
21. tsunami - a large wave caused by an undersea earthquake
22. volcano - a mountain that forms when molten rock is pushed to Earth’s surface and builds up
23. boundary - the place where the edges of two of earth’s plates meet
Changes to Earth’s Surface
McGuire 2011-2012